Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to the best person I know - My Mom.  Isn't she gorgeous?  Don't be mad that I posted a picture.  You look awesome!  This is one of my favorite pictures of you!  Anyway, here are some things you should know about my mom:

1.  She is kind.  She will do anything for anybody.  She doesn't know the word "no."

2.  She is fun.  She tells silly little jokes, you know, the kind that make you cringe, but you just can't help but laugh at because they are so bad.  Example:  When someone asked where the bananas were, her repy was:  "In the peel."  I'm proud to have gotten some of her sense of humor.

3.  She takes notes about everything.  I'm not kidding - everything.  She has notes on Conference and Church talks, but she also has notes on episodes of SYTYCD.  We made fun of her one time for taking notes at a Sun's basketball game - not kidding.  But whenever anyone asks when something happened, she knows right away where to look to find out, and she always has notes on it.  She is a dedicated journal keeper.  100 years from now, her descendants will know exactly who she was.

4.  She is fair.  At Christmas time, she makes sure she spends the exact amount of money on everyone.  If she takes one grandkid on a special date, then she'll make sure that she takes each of them on one.

5.  She is fun.  There is no one else that I'd rather see Mamma Mia with 3 times.  She is my favorite lunch date, shopping date, movie date.  

6.  She's into pop culture.  Anyone who knows her knows her obsession with Jacqueline Smith or Emmy Rossum.  It's fun.  I love that she reads people magazine and that I can talk to her about pop culture.  I love that she loves SYTYCD and Gilmore Girls just like I do.  I love that she likes some of the same music and books.  We always have something to talk about.

7.  She is sympathetic and empathetic.  If you are hurting, so is she.  If you are happy, so is she.  If you are upset, so is she.  You never have to go through any emotion alone.  

8.  She is spiritual.  For years and years she would get up at 4:00 in the morning so she could spend quiet time reading scriptures and inspirational books and articles.  She meditated and prayed in the quiet morning hours.  With 5 kids in 6 years, she probably needed that time to make her sane because the rest of her day was crazy.

9.  She is patient.  Again, with 5 kids in 6 years, you'd have to be.  In all my memories of my childhood years, I never remember her yelling.  I'm not kidding.  I'm not saying that she didn't get upset with us, or discipline us, but she never raised her voice.  I never felt like she didn't love me.  

10.  She epitomizes creative parenting.  I remember doing morning family exercises to a song called "go you chicken fat go."  I also remember her gunny sack song.  When we didn't pick up our toys, gunny sack would come out and eat them up.  We'd have to pay a quarter to get them back.  

I could go on, and on, and on....

She is awesome.  I love you mom.  The best compliment I ever got was when someone told me I was just like my mom.  Happy Birthday!